http://204.228.236.37/News/story.asp?ID=34163
[See also: http://204.228.236.37/News/story.asp?ID=34215 - WK]
Jonathan Brunt
The Idaho Statesman
03-01-2003
MOSCOW - Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, who is accused of supporting
terrorism, was affiliated with a program at the University of Idaho
designed to prevent cyber terrorism.
On Wednesday, U.S. Attorney for Idaho Tom Moss said Al-Hussayen used
knowledge he was learning in the U of I´s computer programs to assist
terrorist groups.
Al-Hussayen, 33, was arrested Wednesday on charges of lying on his
visa application. The federal grand jury indictment alleges that
Al-Hussayen, a computer science doctoral student from Saudi Arabia,
funneled more than $300,000 to groups that promote terrorism.
Al-Hussayen´s defense attorney said he has seen no clues to back up
the claim that Al-Hussayen used knowledge acquired at U of I
inappropriately.
"My reading of the indictment doesn´t support that statement," David
Nevin said. "It leads you to wonder if they really have the evidence."
Al-Hussayen was one of about 30 students at U of I´s Center for Secure
and Dependable Systems, a research group that often is hired by
companies and government agencies to help design programs to decrease
threats from hackers and cyber terrorists.
Because he was not a U.S. citizen, Al-Hussayen was not allowed to work
on government projects considered sensitive, center Director Deborah
Frincke said.
Frincke said studying at the U of I would be an unlikely choice for a
terrorist.
"There would be easier ways than sitting through 45 hours of my
lectures to get what they want," she said. "People can get much of the
information we give from other places."
Instructors likely couldn´t stop a student who intended to use
computer security information to cause havoc, Frincke said. But as a
precaution, she said, teachers emphasize how to stop software
tampering rather than how someone could break into a system.
"It prevents against the people who just want to play around," Frincke
said.
The center, which is made up mostly of master´s and doctoral students,
was formed in 1999 and named during the same year by the National
Security Agency as one of seven "Centers of Excellence" for studies on
the protection of computer systems from threats such as viruses.
Al-Hussayen was finishing up his dissertation on computer security and
hoping to graduate in May.
The center has had contracts with NASA, the Defense Advanced Research
Programs Agency and the Air Force, Frincke said. Educational leaders
in computer security often wonder how information taught in their
classes could be used to harm computer systems, she said.
"The technology that protects a system is the same technology that can
bring a system down," she said.
Some of the center´s work is considered sensitive, and some government
contracts can be worked on only by U.S. citizens.
Portions of the center´s work are completed behind locked doors, where
students not approved to participate are not allowed.
"Because many of the projects in CSDS are funded by the federal
government, there are tight restrictions on who can work on those
projects," said Steve Penoncello, U of I associate engineering dean
for research and graduate studies.
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